Could Arrow's Season 5 Villain Have Already Appeared In The DC TV Universe?

DC has created an empire of shows that have mostly been congregating over on the CW ever since the premiere of Arrow in 2012. Over the past couple of years, The CW has introduced two spinoffs, rescued Supergirl from an uncertain future on CBS, and incorporated John Constantine from the cancelled NBC series Constantine. Unfortunately, we're currently in the midst of summer hiatus, and there's not much to do beyond speculate. Now, a few possible clues have been dropped about Season 5 of Arrow that could indicate that the next big bad is one who has already appeared in the DC TV universe. If a new theory is correct, Arrow will reintroduce the Constantine character of James Corrigan to vex Oliver and Co. as the villain Spectre.

James Corrigan appeared a couple of times in the short-lived first season of Constantine, but he never got the chance to embrace his comic destiny as a major DC player. The cancellation of Constantine seemed to mean that Corrigan never would get to be more than a background character of a failed series. According to a wild new theory (via Collider), a tweet from Arrow stunt coordinator James Bamford may indicate that Corrigan will show up and become much more than a background player for Arrow Season 5.

The tweet from James Bamford seems innocuous enough as a way to get Arrow fans excited that production is beginning for Season 5. We still have a long wait ahead of us before the show is back on the airwaves with new material, so tidbits from the set work as innocent teases to keep the buzz going. Given that James Corrigan already exists within the realm of recent DC television and Bamford used the word "vengeance," however, is it really so crazy to suppose that Bamford was hinting that Spectre -- AKA the Spirit of Vengeance -- is on the way for Arrow?

Spectre of DC lore is a former detective who is killed along with his fiancée. His spirit is turned away from entering the afterlife, so he returns to the world of the living to seek revenge with new powers gained by his spiritual journey. Considering that Arrow spent a good chunk of Season 4 focusing on magic and mysticism, Spectre could be a logical follow-up villain to Damien Darhk. Besides, Arrow loves an origin story that features a woman who came to an untimely end.

To add another wrinkle to the mystery, the casting information about the official Season 5 big bad actually named the character "James." The obvious reason why Arrow would have given the new bad guy a name in the casting call is simply that Arrow is pulling a double-cross and using a fake name, but couldn't Arrow be pulling a double double-cross? It's not out of the realm of possibility that "James" is James Corrigan. NBC may well still have the rights to the Constantine character, which could explain why the Constantine actor might not be considered to reprise the role of James Corrigan. In fact, a James Corrigan on The CW might have to have a slightly different name. James Corragin, perhaps?

Okay, a double double-cross seems like an awful lot of unnecessary work, and Arrow star Stephen Amell has already said that the show is looking to go back to the basics with a non-superpowered villain in Season 5. Add on the fact that we recently learned that the new big bad is inspired by the character of Stringer Bell from The Wire, and the theory that Spectre is going to be the next supervillain to face off against Oliver seems pretty damn farfetched. Still, there's plenty of hiatus left in the summer of 2016, and speculation of this sort should keep us busy enough until we learn more about what is definitely on the way in Season 5.